United's player of the year so far
Rasmus Højlund isn't just scoring consistently – he's scoring early on
FIVE ASIDES Premier League: Luton 1, United 2
It’s not easy to say who will be United’s player of the season for 2023-24. You could make a case for Kobbie Mainoo, Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay or Diogo Dalot, all of whom have done well without quite making the season their own. On the other hand, it’s dead easy to pick United’s player of 2024 so far. Rasmus Højlund has gone from a Premier League disappointment to an absolute delight, without bothering to take any of the steps in between.
Everything changed for Højlund at 9.40pm on Boxing Day. With United drawing 2-2 against Villa, Bruno Fernandes took a corner that eluded various heads and thudded into John McGinn’s thigh. McGinn, who had already contributed to two goals from corners at the same end, couldn’t have provided a better assist if he’d tried. The ball hovered, knee-high, crying out for a volley. Højlund didn’t have time to remember that he was out of form. He swivelled, swung his left foot, curled the ball inside the post, and ran off celebrating so fiercely that you wondered if he would explode. That piece of instinctive opportunism started a cascade of goals that has brought him the record for the youngest player to score in six successive PL appearances. The latest goal in the series was another piece of instinctive opportunism, as Højlund found Alejandro Garnacho’s miscued shot flying straight at him and deflected it into the far corner with a flick of his left pec. Thank God he got all that frustration off his chest against Villa.
Success, thy name is Rasmus. United’s only defeat since Boxing Day, in the next game at Forest, came when Højlund was off sick. In his last six league appearances they have collected 16 points, and his goals account for ten of those. All his league goals bar the Villa winner have come in the first quarter of the game, setting the tone and fixing a persistent flaw: from August to December 2023, United found the net only three times in the first 25 minutes of a league match. At Luton Højlund took this policy even further, scoring after 40 seconds and again in the seventh minute. It was Fergie Time in reverse.
The fans love him and so do the pundits, who now get to chat to him after a game and see how articulate he is. But some of them, including Alan Shearer, have been trotting out a received opinion about him that is wide of the mark. It’s not really true that he got no service from the wingers until recently, even if he did sometimes have the handicap of lining up with Antony. Højlund had just as many chances in his first six Premier League games (11 shots, no goals) as he has had in his last six (11 shots, seven goals). The difference is mainly in him – in his confidence since the Villa breakthrough, and in his marksmanship. Only three of those first 11 shots were on target, compared to nine of the last 11. For ages he couldn’t start scoring in the league, now he can’t stop. In this game two more things changed for him: he scored twice, for the first time in the Premier League, and he had far more touches than ever before in a United shirt – 52 in 89 minutes (including added time), when his previous best was 39 in 100 against Brentford. He has finally got used to the rhythm of English football.
United still have their troubles. They struggle to control games: they treated this one like an exhibition match, letting Luton have 72 transitions. Casemiro’s return has strengthened the midfield but also dented United’s discipline, even if his latest yellow card should have come five minutes later than it did. Luke Shaw keeps getting injured and handing over to Victor Lindelof, who must have Phil Foden licking his lips ahead of the derby. Erik ten Hag has been using Mainoo and McTominay well, but at the cost of freezing out Christian Eriksen, who hasn’t played a single minute in five weeks since he started against Spurs. Ten Hag, such a reluctant rotator, keeps using three or four subs rather than the full five. And now there’s some absurd talk of letting Dan Ashworth serve 20 months of gardening leave before he becomes United’s sporting director. Just pay Newcastle the £10m or so that it will take to strike a deal – that’s less than a fifth of what United shelled out for Mason Mount. And recruiting executives from rivals is perfectly normal, as Newcastle should know better than most: this time two years ago, they poached Ashworth from Brighton, with, it seems, far less than £10m in compensation.
Tim de Lisle is the editor of United Writing and a sportswriter for The Guardian, where he attempted to keep up with this game.